EDTTORTAL. 1005 



is subject to reversals, the reliability of scientific deductions is esti- 

 mated largely on their authorship. " What is presented to us for 

 truth takes form in the human mind, and the quality of what we are 

 asked to believe bears a close relation to the devel()[)nient and ('(juip- 

 ment of the producing intellect. Unripe minds will inevitably pi'o- 

 duce unripe science." 



This is a very })regnant thought, which lies at the bottom of experi- 

 ment station efficiency. The station can be no stronger than its men. 

 Its strength and efficiency and reliability are measured and I'cstricted 

 by the combined ability of its stall'. Stinndating conditions, helpful 

 supervision, suitable facilities and equipment count for much, but 

 they are all secondary. '' Material equipment is subsidiary to the 

 intellectual," and the development of inquiry must logically begin 

 with the i)rej)artion of men properly fitted to conduct lesearch that 

 is worthy of the name. 



Regarding the grade of attainments necessary to research in agri- 

 culture. Doctor Jordan made no concessions to other departments 'of 

 pure or applied science, but argued that •' all that is required for 

 |)rogress in any other field of inquir}^ whatever in the way of effi- 

 ciency of organization, scientific acumen, and severity of method is 

 lequired here." His specifications for the agricultural investigator 

 were rigid : " The real investigator must have what w^e speak of as 

 initiative, fundamentally a natural quality that has been trained and 

 developed in an atmosphere of scientific inquiry. . . . The true 

 scientific mind is the truth-loving, truth-seeking mind. . . . In- 

 vestigators in certain fields of agricultural research should be some- 

 thing more than mere technicians in science; they should be ripened 

 men who see relations l)roadly, men who know affairs as well as 

 l)rinciples." And of the men needed to-day he said: ''The present 

 fundamental need is for more young men endowed with a love of 

 learning, of scholarly habit, and with integrity of mind and heart, 

 whose ambition is not for notoriety, but for the conquest of ti'uth. and 

 who, with more thought for service than for salary, are anxious to 

 aid in laying broad and deep the foundations of human thought 

 and activit3\" 



Doctor Jordan characterized the present condition as " out of 

 l)alance," and he urged that ''we should bring the situation into 

 balance by giving more attention to the development of men." He 

 M-ent further and made this a moral condition of request for increased 

 funds, for he contended that agriculture has no right to ask for 

 larger sums of public money to be used in the study of its problems 

 until there are availalile more men who are adequately equipped for 

 the work of in(|uiry. The responsibility for meeting this condition 

 he laid squarely at the doors of the colleges. ''The further develop- 

 ment of agricultural work in the United States," he said, " lies pri< 



